1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to language translation systems and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for increasing the objectivity in translating and reviewing translations.
2. The Background Art
As companies grow and expand into global markets, it becomes necessary to globalize the products, services, and supporting documentation they provide. Each such product, service, etc. must be customized to meet the specific cultural, language, legal, and technical requirements of the target market. To be effective, this customization must be provided in a timely, economical, accurate, and repeatable manner.
A large part of the time and expense in preparing a product for a new market is spent in translating owner's manuals, advertising materials, and the like. The magnitude of this time and expense is due to the significant human effort currently required to produce quality translations. For example, currently, even after a translation is “complete,” a particular level of quality can only be assured after a highly trained reviewer reads and analyzes a significant portion of the translated document.
It is difficult for a human reviewer to determine how much of what portions of a particular document he or she must read to accurately evaluate the quality of the translation. Thus, a reviewer may typically review and analyze more material rather than less. Typically, a reviewer will review and analyze the entire document. Furthermore, even if one reviewer, through experience, arrives at a reasonable sampling size and frequency, that reviewer may still be unable to arrive at a repeatable result. Moreover, the sampling size and frequency used by one reviewer may be significantly different from that used by another reviewer. Accordingly, there may be significant inconsistencies within the reviewing process.
These and other inconsistences and time-consuming methods currently in use increase the cost and lower the quality of the translations produced. What is needed is an apparatus and method applying objective, automated quality control or quality assurance to the translation of all types of documents and materials. What is further needed is an apparatus and method integrating this objective quality control into a translation system overseeing and controlling all, or a substantially portion, of the translation process.